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Charcoal grills Every other year it seems like my charcoal/ash tray rusts and creates holes in it to where I can't put charcoal on it because of the rotted holes. Is there anyway I can prevent this from happening? I'm getting tired of buying a grill every 2 - 3 years because the ash tray is rusted through. And it's...	Make sure you clean it after each use to remove any tar residues, and store the grid in a dry place. The tar and ashes can contain chemicals that attack the iron, and any moisture is only going to accelerate that. Galvanised iron won't fare much better, as the zinc used is even more susceptible to attack by some of tho...
Is it really that easy to make safe cured salmon with a 3 min sugar/salt brine? The reason for this question is that I live in a landlocked part of the US, thus; the salmon I have access to isn't "fresh off the boat", and there aren't really any places I have access to sushi grade sushi (which I would just eat raw wit...	There are lots of ways to "cure" salmon. Salt, acid, smoke, etc. Max's comment on going for a longer curing time makes sense. Keeping salmon out of the bacteria temp range, keeping it dry (salt and sugar absorb water, but only salt kills) and verifying it cured properly or cooking thoroughly is your best bet from getti...
Israeli restaurant-style falafel and hummus, how do to make? How is authentic Israeli restaurant-style falafel and hummus made? Is there any secret? Thanks in advance!	(yes, I know, I cheat by posting a non-answer) I don't think that there can be a real answer to that question. There must be dozens of "authentic" recipes for Falafel and hummus; and I am not talking about westernized variation of the recipe. In the case of the hummus, maybe the chickpeas are fresh or dry, maybe the ol...
How to make Hummus that doesn't have a hardened layer? When hummus has stood outside for some time, a harder layer on top forms. Can this be avoided?	Plastic wrap works for storage. Some folks brush olive oil to the top of the hummus to create a barrier from the air drying it out when it sits out on a table waiting to be eaten.
What is this slimy coloured stuff growing in my plates? Recently, I observed that there is some brown slimy stuff on the underside of my plates. I don't know what they are or how they form. I tried removing it with a tooth pick, but was too hard to come off. Does anyone know what this is? How can it be cleaned?	My first guess is oil deposits that have hardened through oxidation. Especially the highly unsaturated oils are prone to oxidation, which will after a while lead to insoluble deposits (like in the original oil paints, where the linseed oil polymerises after prolonged contact with air). It's hard to remove as it's not b...
Preserving bread with vinegar If you use vinegar to preserve a piece of bread by pouring it over, will the vinegar affect the bread's taste?	Yes, most varieties of vinegar (all the ones you would use for preservation, at any rate) have an acidic taste, which is imparted to the foods preserved with them. Additionally, if the vinegar has a flavor (e.g. red wine, sherry, ...), it will also affect the taste. It's sort of inevitable, given that vinegar is a dilu...
How to preserve tea taste for 6-7 hours? I am new to this site and I hope my question is clear to everyone. I prepare 4 cups of black tea in the morning by bringing water and tea powder to boiling. Then I pour this into flask by filtering tea powder. Whenever I feel like drinking tea, I pour black tea from flask, add...	Have you considered investing in a good (read: expensive) insulated flask that is rated for 6+ hours and hot liquids? As long as you only open it long enough to pour your cup out, it should keep it at a drinkable temperature and (hopefully) not spoil the taste like reheating does. If you do this, you should heat your m...
cast iron skillet I put my cast iron skillet on the stove top , turned up the heat slowly then turning it up high , when I removed the pan, I obseverd a ring/mark the size of my glass top burner almost like a burn mark on the bottom of the pan, ( the pan was larger then the burner ) It was unable to remove the stai...	One of three things happened : If the spot is black, and the rest of the pan is kinda brown-ish: You fully cured the seasoning on the pan, so you need to bake the pan to get the seasoning full cured. If the spot is dull and brown, while the rest of the pan is black or near-black: You just baked the seasoning off of ...
Black spots in porcelain coffee mug I bought a (fine china) coffee mug a couple of months ago and started using it recently. I saw 3 black spots in the inside of the mug and a lot more speck-like scattered on the outside.Initially, I assumed it to be just dust and tried washing with dishwashing liquid. It still remain...	This is something that can happen during the manufacture of porcelain. It is due to iron particles in the clay used to make the porcelain, they get this look after being fired. It is part of the mug itself and cannot be removed. Customers don't like isolated black dots on white porcelain, so high end manufacturers onl...
Gritty White Chocolate I'm making white chocolate following this recipe and it had a couple issues: The sugar didn't fully dissolve, so some of it tasted overly sweet at the bottom of the mold, rest was basically cocoa butter It had an extremely strong and awful alcohol-y after taste. I used Bourbon Vanilla extract a...	1/3c Sugar is never going to dissolve in the ~one tsp liquid from the extracts, and sugar simply does not dissolve in fats - so your cocoa butter won't dissolve it either. This is a known problem in chocolate making, both white and not... commercially sugar and/or milk powder is mixed in by a process known as conchin...
Black spotting/dust in stainless steel utensils.Is this mildew? I moved into this house a couple of months ago and bought some high quality stainless steel utensils with me from my house. I am noticing some black spots that don't go away with scratching or washing or baking soda. All my stainless steel kitchen utensil...	The specks are corrosion pits. Austenitic stainless (aka- 18-8 , 304 , and several other numbers) are notorious for pitting in salt (halides). The 316 and 317 with molybdenum are more resistant but I doubt any cookware producer would go to the extra expense to use these alloys. However, I expect sitting for a couple da...
Half and half cream already curdled in a fresh carton What could be going on here? On several occasions recently, I have purchased small (half pint) cartons of half-and-half (10%) cream. The "out" date on the carton is at least four weeks into the future. My fridge keeps it about 2 deg C (35F maybe). Freshly opened af...	If the date on your carton is more than four weeks out, the product is ultra-pasteurized and should definitely last more than a few days. As long as your refrigerator is not cold enough for the half and half to freeze, and you've not kept it out too long, it's not likely that it's anything you have or haven't done. Th...
Are rotting potatoes dangerous when coming in contact with skin? Paranoid college student here. Today I had discovered some potatoes in my dorm kitchen that seemed to be covered in black gooey mold, gone extremely mushy, and were giving off an awful smell. I had decided to toss them immediately but I touched some of t...	Not generally; your skin is quite good at protecting you from invasion by microbes and spores. The bigger risk is (as you identify) inhalation, mostly the actual spores rather than any toxic fumes or vapors. There might also be some risk of infection if you had an open wound that came into contact with moldy produce fo...
Am I missing out on something by not using parchment paper? I enjoy occasionally baking over the weekends and on special occasions - biscuits, macaroons, cakes, pies, etc. I don't use parchment. My baked goods have always come out just fine - dare I say "tasty"? - and the only mild inconvenience I face by not using pa...	What you're missing out on is time to do other things. Besides the time trying to get the cake to release without tearing itself apart, or cleaning a sheet pan, you can do things like speeding up your cookie baking if you have less than 6 sheet pans: Cut some pieces of parchment to fit your sheet pans, and measure out ...
Can I use an electric smoker without wood chips as an oven to cook a ham? I'm cooking a big dinner. I am wondering if I can use my electric smoker without woods chips like a second oven so I can free up space in oven inside. Will it cook my ham well? I don't want to smoke my ham.	I wouldn't recommend it, but that said your ham by definition has already been cured and all you are really doing is heating it. Smokers are optimized for smoking meats at a lower temperature than a traditional oven or fire. They use a combination of smoke and water moisture to make great moist smoked meat. You could e...
Using Pyrex casserole dish as bread cloche? Can a casserole dish (Pyrex) be used upside down as a bread cloche?	I've done it several times with good results. It shapes a round loaf so that it rises up instead of spreading out, and you can see when it has risen enough to bake, but it would be easier to remove the finished bread if it were a real cloche with a knob on top instead of a bowl. I put a lot of oil on the bottom and sid...
How can I grind teff? (without a grain mill) One of the international groceries near me stopped selling smaller (~2lb / 1kg) bags of teff flour**. All that that they have now is 25lb bags. All of the other ones that I frequent are latin or asian, and just don't carry teff. Bob's Red Mill sells teff in small (24oz) p...	I accidentally bought teff instead of teff flour and used my Nutribullet to grind it up. Worked great! Quick, as well.
What is this palm like plant called? (Spoiler: leek) For bonus points how do I cook and eat it. For even more bonus points how long do have till I need to eat it (day, week, month). If someone knows the name I can google the rest. Update if a google hit lands here under leek: The light green parts in the top core are...	That appears to be a leek, and not one in the prime of health either. Trim off the root end. If it came from a farm, you might want to give it a traditional de-gritting by cutting it in half lengthwise and rinsing to get out any dirt between the leaves/layers (typically around the border between white, which was under...
What protease is in avocado? What protease in particular does avocado contain? I've been searching everywhere for it on the internet and still couldn't find any answers.	The culinary impact of proteases are to tenderize meat and that, if uncooked, they will prevent gelatin from setting. I have not heard of, and was unable to find, any recipe using avocados for meat tenderization. I was easily able to find many recipes that use fresh avocado with gelatin. Therefore, I don't believe avoc...
Adding Instant Yeast to dry bread mix for later use I am considering selling my bread mixes online to serve customers outside of my bakery's region. I will be vacuum packing the flour mix and sending them via post but to remove an extra step for our clients, I would like to know if there is any harm in adding the ins...	Active dry yeast will lose quality quickly once it is opened. When you portion the yeast into your flour it will be exposed to oxygen and moisture from the air and flour. Even in vacuuming out the air there will still be some moisture in the flour. Some of the yeast will come out of dormancy and will consume their adj...
Will eggs absorb flavor from cooking liquid? Making scrambled eggs by boiling them seems all the rage these days. I tried it with mixed results; there seems to be a bit of a knack. I’d like to know, if I use a liquid other than water, like stock or dashi, will the eggs absorb any of the flavor from the liquid?	I think it's pretty clear that eggs absorb flavors that they are soaked in. Just look at these pictures and decide for yourself. These are soy sauce eggs, but eggs can be soaked in anything and readily absorb that liquid and associated flavors. The brown color is not the shell but soy sauce:
What is an appropriate water to yeast ratio for hydrating yeast for bagels? I've been doing a lot of bagel making lately... my bagels are "on point", except they aren't rising as much as you would see in a typical bagel shop... in fact, I've noticed they kind of "deflate" a little as time goes on. Is there a liquid/ye...	You're missing a step. You have to let them proof after forming them into rings. Just like how for bread making you always have to double proof, or else it'll be like pizza or pita dough. After that they should be fine, just take care not to handle them too aggressively while moving to and from the boiling water (Again...
Can I re-freeze shrimp? There’s a Phillipino grocery in our neighborhood that specializes in seafood. They sometimes have beautiful heads-on shrimp. I’ve no doubt that they’ve been frozen, then thawed, as we’re in the middle of a landlocked desert. It’s hard to resist them, though, as they’re only $6.99 a pound, compa...	For safety reasons, it's strongly discouraged to re-freeze thawed products without cooking them first, as you don't know how long they have been waiting to be sold. Repeated freezing won't do anything nice to the texture, either. But as you want to get a decent amount, can't you discuss with the grocer to buy them stil...
Fish bone broth separating after long long boil Right then.. just had my first go at making fish bone broth. Boiled/simmered bones, heads, skins for 8-9 hours, strained and then next day simmered the strained liquid for a couple of hours. When I returned to check on it, it seems to have separated into what looks like ...	I'm not sure what might have separated in your stock, but I do know that 8-9 hours is way too long for a fish stock. While its common to simmer beef, chicken, and other meat stocks for that length of time, it's much too long for fish stock. Because fish bones are so thin, they cook and soften much quicker than harde...
Banana blossoms versus bean sprouts What is the exact difference between been sprouts and banana blossoms. They look very similar, so much to make me think that banana blossoms might be a joke...	They're a thing, though mostly eaten in India and other parts of asia . Banana Blossoms are actually typically found as a great big bundle like this You basically need to remove the purple 'cover' to get the little yellow flowers The little yellow things are the edible parts though you need to manually remove the st...
what are the small black things that fall from top ceiling of my grill? I have quite an old cooker, and when I put foil paper in I notice little black things fall onto the foil from the top of the grill (I think broiling in US) compartment. Even when I don't cook if I put something in and hit the ceiling/gas heating e...	This answer is in regard to an outdoor Weber grille. According to the Weber grille people the black peelings are carbonized grease that accumulate when cooking and are not harmful. They might not be tasty though so I recommend a quick wipe to loosen the particles before cooking. Again Weber suggests using aluminum fo...
is cheese safe to eat when the refrigerator was 57 degrees soft and hard cheeses were left overnight in the refrigerator with the door was a bit open and the temperature was at 57degrees in the morning . Is the cheese safe to eat?	Yes, cheese is a very resilient food. That's why it was invented/discovered: to enable people to have the benefits of milk without the perishability. According to http://www.cheesemaking.com/learn/how-to/make-a-cheese-cave.html ... how you want to age your cheese is at "A proper and as constant Temperature (45-58F...
Olives in olive oil I have a jar of commercially-produced stuffed olives in garlicky olive oil. They're rather nice considering they were only cheap. On the jar it says once opened they should be kept in the fridge, which seems fair enough. However this makes the oil solid and opaque. It's not easy to get the olive...	Plan ahead...scoop out a few...let them come to room temperature. You could also experiment with the microwave...10 seconds or so. Finally, there are multiple recipes for roasted olives that would also solve your problem.
White foam when cooking chickpeas, what to do with it? When cooking chickpeas, what should one do with the white foam? I've heard that some remove it as it comes. But is this really necessary, since the water is filtered from the chickpeas when they are done? Thanks in advance!	The white foam is a 'scum' that is formed as protein is released from the chickpeas. Yes, that is the term that is used. Scum. This can be skimmed for aesthetic reasons - it sticks to the pot, or overboils, etc... You are absolutely right, though, that if the chickpeas are rinsed after, then this is washed away. If you...
Vegan Alternative for Pecorino Romano in Pesto Title says it all, I'm looking for vegan alternatives to pecorino romano for when I want to make pesto for vegan guests. Not striving for authenticity, and yes pesto is serviceable without the cheese, but it's missing a little something something. If it was just parmesan ...	I've used vegan shredded cheese products manufactured by a company named Daiya and have had quite a bit of success. You can find them on Amazon, but products with similar ingredients and labeling might work. I would recommend a mixture of their parmesan and mozzarella products to get something sort of close to the crea...
Baked Ground Turkey I would like to cook 8 ounces of ground turkey in a Pyrex dish in the oven but have not tried this before and do not want to ruin the meat. So I thought I would ask for advice first. The catch is, I want to use the least amount of fat possible in the process. Thanks!	You haven't said what you plan to do with the cooked meat, so I'm guessing that you're asking here because you're not really sure how to proceed. I've got a couple suggestions. Cooking ground meat (or anything, really) in the oven tends to dry it out, so you'll want to think about ways to either minimize drying, compen...
Why do potatoes discolour when peeled? I've noticed that potatoes will discolour when they're peeled; however, if they are submerged in water, or boiled and drained, they're fine (at least for comparable periods of time). Why is this?	Short answer: Potatoes oxidize. Slightly longer answer: Potatoes contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (the same enzyme responsible for browning in apples), which when exposed to oxygen in the air turns that brown/grey color. That process is called oxidizing. Because oxygen is required to, well, oxidize, any me...
Why does tea with hard water (lime) taste different? It seems that tea with lime water (hard water) tastes different. Different enough that tea manufacturers have a different product to cope with the difference in taste. My question is: Why does tea with hard water (lime) taste different?	This seems to be answered directly on the Yorkshire Tea page. Before we get cracking, here’s some background about Yorkshire Tea and hard water to bear in mind. When deciding which teas our buyers will select to put in the Yorkshire Tea blend, they taste every single one in both soft and hard water. This enables them...
Combining chicken and vegetables in sous vide Any suggestions to offer as I attempt to sous vide chicken in one bag, while, at the same time, cook vegetables in another? The chicken cooks at 150F while the veggies cook at 185F.	Cook the vegetables, chill and refrigerate. Cook the chicken, toss in the vegetables to reheat...or, use two circulators.
Which oil is best for Zeppole? Which oil is best for frying Italian doughnuts?	I've made thousands of Zeppole throughout my career. Don't use olive oil, you'll impart the wrong flavour profile. Veg/Canola/Peanut, or any other neutrally flavoured high-temp oil suitable for frying will work. PERSONALLY, I prefer Zeppole and other choux paste products baked on a parchment sheet, with a light mist of...
How can one make dry fine hazelnut flour? How can one make a hazelnut flour that is as dry and fine as coconut flour? What is sold as "ground hazelnut" or "hazelnut meal" is coarse and moist.	Over half of the weight of hazelnuts consists of oil. So just: buy / pick the hazelnuts yourself buy yourself a decent nut oil press, (the higher the pressure the more oil you will remove) press the nuts and whatever is left after you've pressed all the oil out of the nuts is very dry though still coarse so the onl...
How to make Ice cream less-creamy Hey I'm making dole whip at home with my ice cream maker and when I made it, it was a bit too creamy and stretchy. Would there be anyway to make it taste less creamy? Would I have to reduce the ice cream mix or the water? I used 1 1/3 cups of mix and 2 cups of water. (Dole whip is sup...	I never thought anyone would have me going out and looking up the ingredients in Dole Whip! Anyway, here goes.. Dole whip looks to be a mixture of sugar, coconut oil (the fat content), maltodextrin (for mouth feel, thickness), the fruit flavorings, and gum stabilizers, which will help keep the fat in suspension, preven...
Have I over oiled the wok when seasoning I've recently purchased my first wok and attempted to season it following guides on Youtube. It has turned a nice dark colour however it is slightly sticky to the touch and has some raised surfaces that are likely excess oil. Does this mean I have seasoned it wrong or will it b...	You have used too much oil, or you haven't wiped enough off before heating the pan, the end result is the same. The best thing to do would be to remove the oil and try again, making sure that you have wiped the wok properly. Also, 1) make sure the wok is a bit warm before wiping it with oil (At least if it is cast iro...
Tea water: heat to 80 °C or boil to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C? Boiling water is too hot for some teas. Today I heard that it's better to boil water to 100 °C and let it cool down to 80 °C rather than heat water to 80 °C. Is this true? Does it really affect properties of the water, other than killing bacteri...	It's actually the opposite, you shouldn't boil water for tea unless you want it boiling. Water has dissolved oxygen in it, the more you have the nicer your tea will taste. This has been covered in this question. The hotter your water gets, the faster it loses dissolved oxygen, so you'll get better tea (for most people...
Preparing large cherrystone clams I was tempted last week-end by Cherrystone clams. They were large and with heavy shells. Reading about them, there were supposed to eaten raw; I tried to open one of them with an oyster knife, and failed miserably. So I tried steaming them, a bit like steaming small clams or mussel( s...	An oyster knife, paired with the most common technique used to open oysters will fail you when it comes to clams. You need a thinner bladed, clam knife...and you need to find the seam opposite the hinge side of the clam. Another approach is cryo-shucking; that is, freezing for a short time in a traditional freezer......
Hungarian name for jam-walnut filling I used to know someone who was born in the 1910s and raised in Budapest, who made a filling for blintzes out of jam and ground walnuts. I now know someone (unrelated to the first person) who was born in the 1920s and raised in Arad speaking Hungarian, who makes a filling for baked...	The combination is usually just named by its parts: diós-lekváros X "X with walnuts-and-jam" or lekváros-diós X "X with jam-and-walnuts". The jam is often apricot (baracklekvár), but prune butter (szilvalekvár) or any kind of fruit preserves will also work well. (OK, maybe not marmalade or hot pepper jelly. :-) At its...
What's the point of long/complex sourdough feeding techniques? About a year ago, a friend taught me how she makes her sourdough bread and gave me a portion of her starter. It works great and makes fantastic loaves. I've started to look at other recipes online and in various books (e.g. Flour, Water, Salt) to better ...	Absent a definitive answer here, I'm going to take a stab at this based on some experience I had with difficult sourdough starters. Note that I make a lot of sourdough items but do not do any kind of multi-stage prefeeding ritual. Sourdough is a culture of multiple types of bacteria and wild yeast. Sometimes wild yea...
How significant is the Pickle Spice blend to a corned beef? I was out of pickle spice and Kroger did not have it. So I looked up a few recipes and averaged them with the spices I had on hand. I used ground ginger and apparently that made the solution cloudy, I have a Bay tree so it is pretty heavy on the bay. I used p...	The exact spice blend for any 'Pickling Spice' varies from maker to maker, from region to region, from season to season, etc... It sounds like you found substitutes for each of the basic flavor components, so this plan looks good so far. The 'corning' process traditionally is a long, slow process which is usually appro...
Soaking fruits and things in alcohol So I got a wild hair one day in Feb and filled a bunch of Mason jars half full with random things and started soaking them in whiskey, vodka and sweet whiskey. I put a few pickle Spears in some whiskey (80 proof) was that a bad decision and will this make someone sick? I cut some...	You made something what in Poland we call tincture Nalewka . But we usually use 160 proof spirit. Fresh fruits in alcohol will infuse it with it's taste and sweetness. Very good with clean alcohol. Not so great with one that already have some aroma in it. May produce strange things as whiskey wood may not go well with...
How can I remove blood from snow goose breasts within a few hours? I am not a hunter. My friend has given me several pounds of snow goose breast meat, hunted and cleaned today. He wants me to slow cook them tonight so we can eat them tomorrow. Since I cannot contact him right now, do you have any suggestions on how to...	If you wanted to make certain of getting all of the blood out of the the meat, then I would suggest going with the process used by Jewish people to make meat kosher as they are forbidden from eating meat with blood in it for religious reasons. That process is basically to soak, dry, salt and then rinsed three times to ...
Are these dregs or what? Made some tea using a drip style coffee maker by placing tea bag where coffee would normally go, namely on the standard fibrous (paper) coffee filter. After the tea has been on the warmer for a while, it develops dregs. Actually it's not so much dregs as particles that sometimes sink to the bo...	Regarding the oil film, this is called 'tea scum' and it's completely safe. The filter gets clogged because the tea particles are small and fill up the spaces in the filter. Then it gets in touch with water and expand. At this point, the filer will get clogged. There's generally no reason to use a coffee filter as the ...
What to look for in a kitchen scale I'm thinking of buying a modern, probably electronic kitchen scale, to replace my really ancient mechanical one. I'm located in Bombay, India. I'm wondering what considerations should inform my decision. Possible points include: Should the scale be waterproof? Is that a useful feat...	America's Test Kitchen did a segment on digital kitchen scales. Their judging criteria were: Accuracy: Does the scale display the correct weight? Button usability: Are the buttons in an accessible location? Can they be pressed without too much force? Display visibility: Can you see the display when a large bowl is on ...
What wine(s) would you substitute for sweet red vermouth? I want to make a chukar cherry sauce recipe which calls for 1/2 cup of sweet red vermouth, which gets cooked and reduced with the cherries and other ingredients. I don't have vermouth on hand, and I'm reluctant to buy a bottle I may never use again given the n...	I'd say sherry or marsala will have the closest flavor profile in terms of sweetness, with obviously some nuance of the herbal qualities of vermouth lost. But you could add some spices and herbs to make up for that (cloves, cinnamon, dried ginger, star anise, maybe bitter herbs like mugwort, which is easy to find where...
Is salty tongue effect normal after eating sichuan peppercorns? I've used sichuan peppercorns many times previously and never had this effect before where my tongue becomes salty for a while after eating it. Normally I would just get the buzzy, numbing effect but now my tongue becomes salty and everything I eat afterw...	Yes. This happens to me. Some scientists are investigating the possibility of using the peppercorns as a means of reducing people's salt intake. Potential of Szechuan pepper as a saltiness enhancer, Tram Hong Le Bao, Siree Chaiseri and Yaowapa Lorjaroenphon, International Journal of Food Properties 21(1), pp533-545.
Can I store a soup in my cast-iron in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours in the cast-iron pot? Can I store a soup in my cast-iron pot for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator?	Perhaps there are some types of soup that would be ok, but many foods can easily pick up a metallic taste from cast iron if left in the pot overnight. Examples are tofu fried in a cast iron frying pan, egg omelet (egg sometimes even becomes gray), and anything tomatoey. I'm sure there are others, especially mildly flav...
What alternatives do exists for properly squeezing lemons? This happened to me often when I go to some restaurants or be on a visit to somebody place. It just happen that I want to add some lemon to my soup or use it as an addition to my meals but they do not have access to a lemon crusher. Is that the name of the too...	A lemon wedge squeezer may be what you want. They are and the lemon wedge . (Pictures from Amazon.com)
When are pot lids useful? When I do anything on the stove - boil water, make rice, make a stew for 3 hours - I always wonder whether I should be using the lid. The conventional wisdom is that the lid makes water boil faster. Is this true? Sometimes I have oddly-shaped pots which don't have a lid so I try to find a sub...	Covering a pan slows down evaporation of the water. As evaporating water takes a lot of heat, covering a pan will make the contents boil earlier. If the recipe tells you to cover the pan, it's to make sure there's enough moisture for the full duration of the cooking; without the lid, you might end up with a dry (and u...
Fridge life of sauce/condiments Right so, for many sauces i buy, they have a use within 3 days / 4 weeks after opening in the instructions on the back. For most.. they have an expiry date on the actual bottle and "Refrigerate after opening" on the instructions, with no info on how long i can use it after opening, doe...	For starters, it is not the expriy date. For anything perishable, it is only relevant for the sealed bottle (and that not only for condiments) and does not have a meaning after you open it. If it is nonperishable, it is simply a best before date and irrelevant for safety. So there is no single answer to your question....
Found some spots on dry aged beef, getting slimy. Need advice I just found that there are some part of the dry aged beef under a rack that became slimy. It has been 20 days at 2°C and humidity around 75%. Is it ok to still consume since I have to trim the outer part anyway or Can I wipe out the slimy part for now to s...	Your conditions were both too warm and too low of a humidity. Ideal for 'dry aging' is 32.5°F to 33.8°F (0.5°C to 1.0°C) at 80%-85% humidity. Firstly, temperature control is critical to slow and almost stop the rotting process. Beef is received right after slaughter and it must be held at a core temperature of ar...
A recipe instructs to boil a whole head of cabbage, can I boil individual leaves instead? In Madhur Jaffrey's An Invitation to Indian Cooking, her recipe for Cabbage leaves stuffed with potatoes instructs you to boil the cabbage leaves by submerging the entire head of cabbage in a large pot of boiling water. This sou...	The goal of the boiling step is to make it easy to remove the leaves. Removing whole individual cabbage leaves on a raw head of cabbage is tricky; they tend to tear. If you want to put forth the effort, it should be just fine. They're cooked just long enough to soften them and make it possible to wrap them around the f...
Does Agar Agar expand in the stomach if not diluted enough? This might be an odd question. But I am making gummybears from fruit i mixed smooth in a food processor and agar agar. I read that agar is a potential chocking hazard when taken with insufficient amount of water. Since I used about 3 teaspoons for my mixture ...	Assuming that you are worried about the expansion rate in the stomach from having an insufficient ratio of water to agar during digestion, a quick search came up with the following results from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar): Agar-agar is approximately 80% fiber, so it can serve as an intestinal regula...
Why use baking powder instead of yeast? I am asking the converse of the question "Why use yeast instead of baking powder?" For example, can banana bread be made with yeast instead of baking powder? It seems it would rise better, but perhaps people like baking powder because they like banana bread denser or wetter or s...	The main reasons are speed and convenience. Yeast takes longer (even "instant" yeast) and requires more maintenance: waiting for dough to rise, etc. But those are the historical reasons for the adoption for baking powder. Since it became common, another reason emerged: that is, it's very difficult if not impossible t...
Steaming with oil instead of water Can you cook some foods just placing them in a metal frame above hot oil? In the same way as steaming vegetables, but with oil. Is that a thing?	That really wouldn't work. With steaming the water is heated to boiling which creates steam. Since the food is colder, the steam condenses on the food which transfers heat to the food. With hot oil there is no boiling and vapor of the oil. So in an enclosed container it would be more akin to baking, the hot oil heatin...
Rigging equipment for steaming large amounts at once I am making steamed BBQ pork buns for a work potluck. I have some steamer equipment, but small scale. I'm looking at making 60+ buns, and would really like to cook them as quickly as possible the morning before I go to work. How can I create a large steamer setup? ...	Assuming that you're planning to do the steaming at home (your question is kind of confusing that way), the cheapest way to go is to create ad-hoc "steam ovens" using disposable aluminum foil pans. Buy some disposable aluminum foil baking pans, as large/deep as possible, like a 20" x 12" x 3.5" pan. line the bottom of...
Can all types of honey be used to make mead? What is the difference between raw and wild honey? Is it raw because of honey collected from apiary domesticated bees, and wild when collected from the forests? Can any honey be used to make mead? More specifically, what about wild honey, such as Tualang Honey?	To address your 'headline' question: Yes, any kind of honey can be used to make mead, however the mead may have a significantly different flavor depending on the honey chosen. Orange Blossom honey will create a sweeter mead that is lighter in color (like a lager beer) where buckwheat honey will produce a mead that has ...
How to remove moisture from cheese that is stored in a liquid? Certain cheeses, such as halloumi and mozzarella, are often stored in sealed packages that are filled with liquid rather than air (I'm assuming to help to preserve it for longer). However, this tends to cause a problem when it comes to cooking, as a large ...	The tool for the job is a cheese press, though for small quantities a tofu press (I have one similar to this) works well. I bought mine for home-made paneer and bought tofu, but have also used it for halloumi and mozarella (home made, not brilliantly successful). The idea is simple: wrap the cheese in a cheesecloth, pl...
Can spanikopita (or other phyllo foods) be prepped in advance? I offered to cook for an event for a friend. Later, the request came that the food should be "finger food". Grumbling aside (I hate tedium), most the finger food recipes I know have substantial prep and I don't have a lot of time beforehand to cook. I'd li...	Yes you can. Anecdotal, Mom makes batches of small spanakopita in advance and freeze them up for later use. The filling should be cold when you are assembling the spanakopita. (edit)You need to bake them before freezing them. I would store them in the fridge in a plastic container in a single layer. If freezing, put t...
Canning fresh meat in an oil bath? I was recently given some home canned fresh pork, that was preserved by boiling at 100C for three hours. It is only a few weeks old and tastes delicious, but after reading up on canning processes, I believe the above process is not safe. The canned pork, along with the new confrontat...	You are correct that simply boiling meat for three hours is not sufficient to make it shelf stable. Commercially produced, low-acid, canned foods must be processed to 240F just like home canned food. The process involves processing the cans in a steam pressure cooker similar to what is done at home at a smaller scale. ...
Can one use SOS pad on Gotham frying pan? Stains remaining in frying pan after cooking meat that sticks to the pan. I have tried SOS pads, is that okay?	SOS pads are steel wool with a ton of soap. That means they are an abrasive cleaner, and except on the very hardest surfaces, will scratch away the surface. This makes them very effective so removing a microscopic portion of a stainless steel pan or a slightly less microscopic portion of an aluminum pan (or cookie shee...
Albacore or Yellow Fin I once heard that one type of canned tuna is prone to have less mercury (poison) based upon the size it is at harvest or the location where it is commonly found. I buy Genova brand which has both kinds packed in olive oil. They are both the same cost so getting the "safer" one is a no-brainer....	The Environmental Defense Fund has made a few recommendations based on EPA guidance: Canned white, or albacore (0.32 parts per million of mercury). Children under six can eat up to one 3-ounce portion a month; children from 6–12, two 4.5-ounce portions a month. Adults, including pregnant women, can safely eat it up to...
Can calcium sulphate substitute for calcium chloride in mozarrella cheese making? Calcium sulphate is what I have plenty.	Calcium sulphate (CaSO4.nH2O) is also known as gypsum or plaster of Paris. It's slightly soluble in cold water (~ 3 g/l) and almost insoluble in hot water. Calcium chloride (CaCl2) is much more soluble (~ 800 g/l). So if you need more than about 2 g/l of calcium chloride, the replacement won't work as you just can't d...
What qualities to look for in a cut of beef destined for "well done"? The major cooking advice is to buy a certain cut (sirloin, etc..) and cook it to rare-degrees. However, my guests don't like beef that has any pink inside or "blood" (I know it isn't blood) oozing out. I don't assume the same cuts still produce the...	I'm rather surprised by the judgmental tone in some of the answers here. A well-done steak is a culinary preference; just because you don't share that preference is no reason to be rude about it. Some people like caviar; others don't, despite the fact that it is expensive and lauded by many "people in the know." Som...
Wouldn’t flash cooling inside a freezer ice cube box be as effective as an ice bath? I’ve recently cooked marinated flank steak for four hours and placed it directly in the freezer ice cube box. By placing the warm item between ice sheets and allowing full contact on the food, allowing the ice to melt around, wouldn’...	I was a mechanical engineer. The heat transfer will be much quicker in the ice bath because you will have full surface contact between the meat and the water, even into all the nooks, cracks and crevices of the meat. This is not possible just putting it in tghe freezer. Water is a great conductor of heat. Air is an ins...
Substitute regular sugar for confectioners sugar in icing Can I use regular sugar instead of powdered sugar to make a drizzle icing for my pound cake?	It depends on the type of recipe you want to use, but generally the answer is yes. Powdered/confectioner's sugar recipes for glaze or icing often just use a very small amount of liquid. With granulated sugar, it can be difficult to get a smooth consistency by just adding the liquid that way, so the more standard way ...
Can you safely torch a meringue topping instead of baking it? I want to make a butterscotch pudding and chill it in ramekins. Since the pudding calls for egg yolks, I thought of making the whites into a meringue topping. If I do that, can I brown the topping with a kitchen torch instead of baking all the puddings in t...	Yes you can - if you make the right kind of meringue. There are three types that vary in the preparation process: French (or classic) meringue Where egg whites are simply beaten with fine sugar. Swiss meringue Where the egg & sugar is beaten over a water bath. Italian meringue Where the whites are beaten first and a s...
Farmer cheese turns out inconsistently A couple of years ago I made farmer cheese from this recipe. It turned out great: creamy and delicious. Today I made the same recipe, and it turned out dry and crumbly instead. What would explain the inconsistency? The only thing I did differently is halve the recipe this time, b...	Based on lots of experience making farmer's cheese (and backed up by the book One Hour Cheese), there are three factors which control the scale of creamy to dry & crumbly: the degree of acidity at which you set the curd; the length of time you cook it (keep it at 180F+) the length of time you drain it So my guess wou...
Bagels - Use of Barley Malt Syrup or Non-Diastatic Malt Powder When using a water bath for bagels what is preferred to attain the nice brown exterior, Barley Malt Syrup or Non-Diastatic Malt Powder? I see recipes that use either one. What would be the difference in the finished bagel? Will either one effect the textur...	First, it depends on whether your malt syrup is diastatic or non-diastatic. (Diastatic contains active enzymes; most syrups are non-diastatic because the process to create syrups usually involves heat that destroys the active enzymes. However, this is not universally true.) Diastatic malt's active enzymes help conver...
Apple cider vinegar in roasting pan I am smoking a turkey and don’t have broth to use in the base of the roasting pan. The turkey was brined over night. I was thinking of putting the turkey on a bed of celery and carrots with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar. Is this a good idea or is this too much vin...	If you don't have any turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock or bouillon on hand, I would recommend using all water. That said, without stock or dissolved bouillon, your vegetables will not get the added extra flavor. I would recommend adding a small amount of salt and/or other seasonings to the water so the vegetables wo...
How to cook multiple batches in a wok without things burning I've read in a number of places that instead of doubling a recipe in a wok, just do multiple batches. However, whenever I try to do multiple batches, by the second batch things are starting to get smokey and by the thrid I've set off the fire alarm. I typi...	I admit that I've spent too much time in Panda Express... but you can see their kitchens from the line and how they batch their food - often switching from a main dish to fried rice (with egg) and back to a stir fry and the solution they use is to quickly rinse out the wok with warm water and scrub it lightly with a br...
Why can't I tighten my olive oil bottle? It seems every olive oil bottle I buy lately is not made to be tightened all the way. Why?	Oil bottles tend to be opened and closed many times, and the caps deform. They're often made of very thin metal and every time you do them up the metal spreads a little until the screw threads don't engage properly. The oil itself doesn't help as it lubricates the thread so the normal cue that the cap is tight enough -...
Do I need to separate all the eggs if a recipe needs more yolks than whole eggs? I am going to make lemon bars except I am going to use oranges instead, so I was reading the recipe for lemon bars. The recipe calls for 2 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk separated, then in the instructions it says to beat eggs and egg y...	Your recipe calls for both whole eggs and egg yolks. (Presumably, it needs the extra fat from an additional egg yolk without the liquid/protein contribution of an additional egg white.) Since the goal in this recipe is just to have 2 whites and 3 yolks in the mixture, there is no reason to separate the first two eggs. ...
How long to cook a 150 lb. pig in the ground? I am cooking a 150 lb pig in the ground for Cinco de Mayo. I am using a Kalua Hawaiian method but using taco Al pastor flavoring. Feeding over 100 people street tacos. I have researched and have read different times on how long to leave the pig in the ground. I will hav...	Last time I did one it was an overnight proposition, sources I find recommend planning on 24 Hours for a 150lb Kalu-a-que. A pig roasted in the ground, Hawaiian or Kalua style, can take 12 hours if done right and if it is filled with fruits and vegetables it can take 16 hours or longer. If your pig is a purchase...
My sourdough starter stopped growing after day two I've tried making my own sourdough starter. On the first day I added a cup of whole rye flour with 3/4 of cool filtered water. After 24 hours it already started smelling a little sour and had a few bubbles. I took 8 table spoon of the starter and added the same ingre...	The first few days when setting up a new sourdough can be quite inpredictable - but like in your case, there often is an initial burst of activity, followed by a rather quiet phase. This is because during that time, there is no stable “bacterial and yeasty community” yet and one or the other may temporarily prevail. Th...
Is it safe to consume microwaved Campbell’s chicken stock? I often pour a bowl of frozen veggies and a cup of chicken stock (straight from those 1 litre boxes) in a bowl and microwave it for 12 minutes. It comes out fairly hot. Is this safe to do? Or am I risking food poisoning by not boiling the chicken stock?	Aseptic packaging which is what the Swanson's and anyother brands products in those coated carboard-like packing 9a.K.a Tetrapaks) broth are safe. The aseptic processing has killed thhe harmful bacteria. So long as it was kept refrigerated below 40 deg F after opening it is still safe. Your frozen veggies if notdefrost...
What utensil (material) to use in Convection + Grill mode of Microwave Oven? My Microwave Oven (Samsung DE68-03387M) has three modes: Microwave, Convection and Grill. It has various combinations of those. There is a Pre-heat option which uses Convection and Grill modes simultaneously. It has maximum temperature of 250...	Preheat should be done with an empty oven, afaik. And indeed, a grill isn't nice to plastic; and I avoid plastic also when using the convection mode (alone or with microwave): where the plastic touches the food, the temperature will be limited by the water in the food, but if the plastic is not in contact with the food...
Cooking different meats on George Foreman grill If I cook some chicken breasts on a George Foreman Grill, can I cook another type of meat straight after it? Or do I need to clean the grill inbetween each? I've been doing the latter since I bought once recently as I didn't want to take any chances, but it is proving a ...	You should be OK as long as the grill stays hot. IT is a bit like if you would pan fry some chicken and after that add a steak to the pan.
Indian cooking - How do I get the consistent taste I am a grown-up man who has developed an interest in the art of cooking. I have been spending time in the kitchen with my wife and mother-in-law to learn their ways of cooking. Here are the questions I don't seem to be able to get definite answers from them. 1. How do...	Perhaps you couldn't get definite answers because there aren't any... You can't get a consistent taste every time: your basic ingredients won't be the same (different stage of development for vegetables, possibly different varieties, not always the same freshness, etc.), and neither will the fresh spices like ginger a...
Can you mix raw chicken and French fries dip them in the same flour batter? I thought it was cross-contamination when you mix raw food with any food. So, can you use the same flour batter next and dip the chicken in along with French fries together and then fry them?	As long as you are cooking both, as you suggest in your question, there is no danger. Any potential hazard will not survive the heat of cooking.
Patty Integrity and Seasoning? Should you season the meat of a patty before or after it's formed? I've heard that it allows for more flavour if you were to add salt and pepper from the start, but I'm told doing that will cause the patty to fall apart more likely into just ground beef and that you should always season ...	Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote about this issue on the website, Serious Eats. Salting the meat before making the patty does not cause it to fall apart, rather it creates a more bouncy, sausage-like texture. His conclusion is that most people prefer a patty that has a loose, open structure. His advice is to salt immediately bef...
How to address this burnt sugar conundrum Some Caribbean recipes, such as this Jamaican oxtail stew, ask for browning sauce, which is essentially burnt sugar: Heat a large Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Add brown sugar to pot and melt, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it darkens and starts to ...	I would do this in a non-stick pan, then throw this into the stew/pot, usually with some meat or something else first in the pot you are stewing in. The reason it sticks, is b/c sugar tends to stay together, so if sugar is at the bottom of a pan it draws more sugar to the bottom, along with all the browned meat bits. I...
Chemical meat tenderizers I know pineapple (Hawaiian cooking), onion (Chaliapin steak), pickle juice (Chick-fil-A) and honey (Shokugeki no Soma). All tenderize meat via cooking and / or marinating. My questions are: What others meat tenderizers are there? Is there a tasteless or more mellow substitute that wouldn't ...	The tenderizing actions for all of the examples you've listed are different, and some are entirely debatable. Tenderizing isn't about specific ingredients; it covers a whole range of different techniques used to increase the perception of juiciness in the final meat, while reducing the perception of tough connective ti...
What is the yellow colour and what ingredients go into seekh kebabs fat? When grilling seekh kebab fat drips I notice it's yellow colour. If you grill plain mince or meat it's usually white colour so it must mean some ingredients are getting imparted into the seekh kebabs fat to give it that colour. I really like the...	Common sources of fat-soluble yellow colours are curcuma (curcumin as colorant, tends to give an almost fluorescent yellow), and chilli peppers (lycopene, tends more towards the orange in higher concentrations). But a lot of other carotene-containing items can give a yellow to orange colour (cumin among them, but it's ...
Cooks Illustrated recipe too Salty The other night I made the "Bejing-Style Meat Sauce and Noodles" from the most recent (May-June 2018) issue of Cooks Illustrated. Usually their recipes come out quite good, even if they are often a bit involved. I've done Asian-style food before but it is not something I do a lot. I...	The first thing that caught my eye was the soy sauce. However, I think the real culprit here is the miso. From Wikipedi
Correlation between perceived sweetness and sugar content A couple of months ago I started to take note that the perceived sweetness of foods isn't always correlated with its sugar content. One stark example was yogurt, where yogurts that tasted mostly plain or even tart would sometimes have higher sugar content than ...	Different sugars have different relative sweetness (in %) (Elmhurst College): Sucrose: 100 Fructose: 140 High fructose corn syrup (HFCS): 120-160 Glucose: 70-80 Lactose: 20 Relative sweetness of some non-sugar sweeteners (NutrientsReview): Aspartame: 180 Acesulfam potassium: 200 (in some diet colas) Stevi
Will an IPA beer work properly for beer bread? Is there any reason an IPA beer would be bad or not work for a beer bread dough? Does it take longer, the same or short than a typical beer bread to rise?	IPA, especially these days, tends to have high bitterness...40 - 60 IBUs in general...often much higher. Your biggest issue would be whether or not the bitterness would significantly influence the flavor or your bread. As far as the rise, as is mentioned in the comments above, active yeast in the beer may or may not b...
What is this plant that sometimes accompanies parsley? I frequently buy bunches of flat-leaf parsley. Every now and then I find one or two stems of a different-looking plant included. Here is an image, with normal flat-leaf parsley on the left. I remember it having a grassy, plausibly parsley-like smell, but nothing s...	I believe your mystery plant is....parsley. This question was asked and answered here. It appears that the best explanation is a leaf variant on the common cultivar "Italian Giant". Having grown this cultivar in my home garden, I can attest to having personal experience with this leaf shape. Chop it up and use it as...
What defines cooking wine? What makes cooking wines and cooking sake considered only for cooking? My thoughts would be how cooking sake has more spices added to it but I'm not sure for wine.	At least in germany "cooking wine" is more a reference to a cheap wine that just does not taste good if drunken (or is of a low percieved quality). For example a cheap lambrusco, which you get if you order a few pizzas at your local pizzaria, is considered "cooking wine" in germany.
What is the difference between rock sugar and raw sugar? What's the difference between rock sugar & raw sugar? I'm looking for the general difference as well as calories, usage, and taste.	Rock sugar would be chemically the same as regular granulated sugar, but in the form of huge crystals. Some people call it "rock candy", and you can make it, slowly, at home by growing crystals in a syrup made of granulated sugar and water. How it is made at large scale, commercially, I have no idea. See wikipedia, htt...
Confusion regarding garlic powder in fat in pan I left a pan from cooking chicken with garlic powder in the fridge for a week. There are lumps of chicken fat that I assume have garlic powder in them. Is this like garlic butter or garlic in oil and is it safe to put the fat in the compost or touch it? I'm not going to ...	This site suggests that when commercial garlic powder is made it is heated to a temperature of 150 to 160 degrees Celsius, before it is then dehydrated and ground. C. Botulinum spores are killed by heating to at least 120 degrees Celcius, and holding for at least 30 minutes. It would seem to me that commercial produce...
Is it possible to make pork belly very soft with a pressure cooker? I recently bought a pressure cooker and I have been learning about all sorts of different ways to make things that I normally would slow cook faster with the pressure cooker. However, a lot of forums I have read mentioned that a pressure cooker can't ...	...a pressure cooker can't really speed up the process for breaking down the fat in the pork belly... Nope - this isn't really true, nor is it a complete description of what's going on. Pork belly doesn't just contain a large amount of fat, it contains a large amount of connective tissue (which is why it's so tough wh...
Why is it safe to bake a fish when unsaturated fats degrade in low temperatures? Unsaturated fats are less stable than saturated fats, and they degrade at much lower temperatures. For this reason we don't use most unrefined cold-pressed oils for cooking. But what about processing food that's naturally rich in unsatura...	Foods that contain quite a lot of water don't exceed the boiling point of water until that water has boiled off. So in bread or cakes that's part of the reason why we get a crust -- the inside is still moist so is limited to 100°C (there's a fair bit of water in butter and eggs; even flour contains some) while the cru...
How to assemble a springform pan? The bottom sheet of a springform pan typically has bumps and a raised lip. Should the lip go up or down? I've probably done it both ways in the past. Is it just a matter of personal preference?	It's personal preference. However, it's easier to cover the base of the pan in grease-proof paper when the lip is downward. When the lip is upwards, it can be difficult to get the lining paper into the edges at the bottom without it crinkling a lot. You get slightly less mix into the pan, but it's not really noticeabl...
Bad tasting avocados recently I'm new/ignorant to using avocados and never really enjoyed them until 3 months ago when I bought some on a whim. The avocados actually tasted great. They were creamy and had the consistency of butter. The seed was a bit of a pain to clean, as the skin around the seed would stick to the a...	"Watery, grassy and bland" and "not mushy/creamy" (a.k.a hard) match my experience of avocados that aren't sufficiently ripe. An avocado should be very soft and creamy when it's ripe. (But not brown/grey/gross - that's over-ripe.) At least in Israel, avocados are sold somewhat unripe, since that prolongs their shelf li...
How do I know if US lettuce is safe, given the E. coli outbreak? I'm gonna order a turkey and swiss sandwich soon, on a spinach wrap. Is it safe to get lettuce on it? I know that in 16 states, over 50 people have gotten e.coli from lettuce, so I'm not sure whether I should get lettuce or not.	The CDC's current advice as of April 20 2018 is quite simple: Do not buy or eat romaine lettuce at a grocery store or restaurant unless you can confirm it is not from the Yuma, Arizona, growing region. So, by the CDC's definition of safety, it's not safe if it's romaine possibly from the Yuma area. It has nothing to ...
How to get rid of extra flour on homemade pizza dough and tortillas I make my own pizza dough and I just made my own tortillas for the first time. Both are great, my family and friends like them. However in both cases I roll them out on a floured cloth and they all wind up still having flour on them at the time of ba...	Although they are generally advertised as being for clearing one’s bench of flour, I’ve seen bakers use a flour brush of this sort to remove excess flour from scones etc.

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